The Trump administration’s approach to governance presents an opening for a new federalism to take hold. States may now be incentivized to aggressively take charge of education; ambitiously compete for businesses planting themselves in the U.S. due to tariffs; and cut oppressive regulatory red tape. Rounding out the Cincinnatus Series, Ryan Williams sits down with Scott Yenor, Jeffrey Anderson, and Jim Blew to discuss strategies and tools available to policymakers to facilitate economic development, capitalize on the shrinking administrative state, and more!

In his first address to Congress, President Trump goaded Democrats into a limp, performative resistance while he rattled off an impressive list of achievements. Previously, at the White House, Trump had met with Ukrainian President Zelensky in a dramatic confrontation that ultimately helped improve Trump’s position in negotiations over rare earth minerals in exchange for military aid. The guys give their takes on the historic political theater of the past week, discuss the ongoing economic and immigration crises, and share more media recommendations!

Silicon Valley elites have pushed school-provided tablets and phones into K-12 schools, replacing textbooks, real human interaction, and traditional education, undermining children's ability to focus—and parents' power to regulate screentime. Guests Scott Yenor, Frederick Hess, and Clare Morell sit down with host Ryan Williams to consider the limited pros and many cons of devices in the classroom, their disruptive effect in school settings and on learning outcomes, and provide insight into how states and school boards may spur positive change.

The White House has taken charge of issuing press permissions, prompting wails of horror from the White House Correspondents’ Association—but who’s really compromising the media’s authority and independence? Meanwhile, Trump removes Joint Chiefs Chairman C.Q. Brown, to be replaced by retired Lieutenant General John Daniel Caine—prompting further histrionics from the military elite. The hosts discuss Trump’s legitimate authority and the resistance to it, the budget bill making its way through Congress, and the looming specter of a debt crisis—plus, more must-read article recommendations!

Following the social revolutions of decades past, liberal sex education reforms, and the devaluation of marriage, Conservatives can no longer ignore the social aspects of family life—paramount to preserving and promoting the traditional household—and must recognize the use of laws to heal our culture. Host Ryan Williams is joined by Scott Yenor, Kathleen O’Toole, and Chris Bullivant to discuss how states may empower parents to raise and school their children, boost fertility and attract young families, and close the class divide in marriage and family formation outcomes.

After an Afghan national drove his car into a Munich crowd, J.D. Vance delivered a stern rebuke of the European ruling class. Unsustainable immigration, Islamic extremism, and censorship raise the question whether once-great nations can be relied on as true Western allies. Meanwhile back home, Democrats struggle to decouple from woke, but best not interrupt their mistakes. The guys sit down to talk foreign policy, DOGE’s popularity, and resistance 2.0—plus, recommendations for must-watch shows and must-read articles! 

In vitro fertilization (IVF) has presented a moral dilemma as its processes discard embryos as a matter of course, ending more lives than even abortion. Emma Waters, Natalie Dodson, and Inez Stepman join host Ryan Williams to discuss this and other concerns surrounding IVF: genetic selection, the creation of human life for profit, the potential use of AI in dictating which embryos live, and more. They also raise solutions state legislatures may consider in the process; possible consequences; and the looming, necessary conversation of bioethics and parenthood in America.

Elon Musk's DOGE continues to sweep through the bureaucratic minefields, accompanied by the howling of entrenched progressives. Legal battles are surely ahead, which many on the left equate—absurdly—with a constitutional crisis. Meanwhile, the media comes around to what was labeled right-wing conspiracy just months ago: employment data was cherry-picked before the 2024 election to deceive in favor of Biden and Kamala. The hosts discuss this ongoing realignment, a Christian intellectual revival, and a couple listener questions.

Time to tighten the belt. As federal funding scrutiny increases—and with an enrollment cliff fast approaching—state legislators, not internal experts, must take action to put universities under the microscope and ensure faculty hours equate to student academic mastery, promoting attendance. Host and Claremont Institute president Ryan Williams sits down with returning guest Scott Yenor and is joined by Frederick Hess and Beth Akers of the American Enterprise Institute to continue the discussion of how state legislatures may reshape universities, from performance funding to school choice.

Elon Musk’s DOGE helps lead an effort to pull out the rug from under Sri Lankan pronoun education, Vietnamese inclusivity programs, Bolivian transgender operas, and more—with the U.S. Agency for International Development caught in the first sweep. An outrage! Or so say leftists. In retaliation for that and more, the liberal media unearths the qualifications of Musk’s young staff, who turn out to be…educated, accomplished, and competent. Whoops. The guys sit down to talk wasteful spending and managerial efficiency, along with Christianity's role in government.